Teachers

Our educational system has many weaknesses. Perhaps the most important of them is a weak teaching corps.

Next year, our students will once again be taking the Program for International Assessment (PISA) tests. The next round of assessments is expected to focus on competence in the sciences.

The last few rounds of this assessment have been embarrassing for us. Our students rank among the world’s weakest in math, reading, science and creative thinking. These are precisely the skills necessary for our people to thrive in the new global economy. Currently, nine out of 10 young Filipino learners struggle with basic reading skills.

Southeast Asia is expected to be the global epicenter for information technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). Billions of dollars of new investments are flowing into our neighboring economies to build strong technology infrastructure. Among the leading beneficiaries of these investments are Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

Even as we contemplate reforms to rehabilitate our decrepit educational system, we are losing out to our neighbors. Large investments in modern manufacturing are expected to move from China to neighboring economies, given concerns over the possible effects of higher tariffs on Chinese-made goods imposed by the incoming Trump II administration. We will miss yet another wave of investment transfers even as we sit in the world’s most dynamic economic region.

In preparation for next year’s PISA tests, the Department of Education (DepEd) has formed a task force to help our students prepare. Our schools rolled out special science programs and computers are being disseminated to those institutions expected to participate in the assessment. It seems our education bureaucrats are more concerned about saving face than doing the hard work of comprehensively reforming our systems.

Meanwhile, several significant bills aiming to strengthen our educational system are sitting in the legislative mill, overshadowed by the circuses our legislators prefer to perform in.

Among the more important measures being proposed are Senate bills 2830 and 2840 introduced by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and Sen. Loren Legarda. The bills provide for more flexible pathways in gaining licensure for teaching by allowing for portfolio assessment aside from the traditional written exam. The proposed measures will update the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act.

These bills represent improvements in the Board Licensure Examination for Teachers (BLEPT). The proposed measures will require the Professional Regulation Commission to submit the licensure exam questions to the Teacher Education Council immediately after the exam.

Many educational experts hail this proposal, describing it as “unveiling the black box.” For the longest time, there has been a clear lack of transparency in examining the test’s construction, content, relevance and alignment with the demands of quality education. This will force transparency on those who administer the exams and help deter the inbreeding that afflicted  the ranks of teachers.

Over the past few decades, the ranks of teachers have been decimated by resignations, retirements and the brain drain of labor exportation. Obsolete rules, procedures and standards prevent us from closing the gap at precisely the time when the demographic sweet spot delivers a surge of learners to our classrooms.

The amendments being proposed include a process where graduates of accredited programs may submit portfolios demonstrating professional standards. This is a practice that has been adopted in other countries such as Australia. To ensure rigorous monitoring and quality assurance, this option may be limited to high-performing teacher educational institutions.

Also, probationary teachers with prior experience in advanced basic or tertiary education, as well as those with overseas teaching experience, may also qualify to submit portfolios under guidelines set by the Professional Regulation Commission, Teacher Education Council and the Commission on Higher Education.

The proposed reforms will create a more inclusive and effective system that recognizes diverse qualifications and practical experiences in the field of teaching. It will allow the flexibility in recruitment that will help us better address the problem of teacher shortage in basic education.

We cannot cure the weakness of our education system unless we fully replenish the ranks of skilled and dedicated teachers. Building enough classrooms (which we have miserably failed to do) is of lesser importance than staffing our schools with well-trained teachers. At some point, we should also do something about the low pay that deters people from building a career in teaching.

Of course we need more classrooms and computers for students to use. But teachers are the heart and soul of every educational system.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterates this. He reminds all of us that teachers are essential to nurturing every country’s greatest resource: the minds of its people. Teachers are the most important inputs to the learning process. If we want our students to perform better, we need better qualified teachers.

True, there are larger problems. A significant number of primary school students suffer from stunting due to malnutrition. Our drop-out rates remain alarmingly high.

But the quality of our teachers should be an urgent focus.

A study conducted by the Philippine Business for Education showed that 56 percent of those currently in teacher education institutions performed below average in the annual licensure exams conducted for those wanting to work in elementary and secondary education. Passing rates are higher among first-time takers of the exam. There is a higher likelihood of failure among repeaters.

The alarm bells are ringing loudly. Our legislators must focus on the nation’s strategic priorities.